Stat Trick

This list could have about 10 points tonight, but time is short:

1. Jason Blake recorded his second hat trick of the season and
fifth of his career. He is the first Islander to record a hat
trick in a single period since Yashin did it at MSG on January
30, 2002.

2. The Isles finish February 9-2-2. It's their most wins in
February since 1994, when they went 9-4-1 and their best
February since they went 12-1-1 in 1982.

3. The Isles now have 72 points in 63 games, most since 1983-84
when they had 78.

4. DiPietro made his 12th straight start, tying a career high.
He is 8-2-2 in the twelve games.

5. The Islanders have won four straight games, all by one goal.
It's only the second time that's happened in Islander history:

27-Feb-93 @ Philadelphia 3 2 W
28-Feb-93 @ Hartford 7 6 Wot
2-Mar-93 Vs Detroit 3 2 W
7-Mar-93 @ Washington 3 2 W

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,921 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.You can find him in the "Best Seat in the House", about six feet to Howie and Billy's left, at most Islander home games.For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

It was 25 years ago today: February 20, 1982

John Tonelli's goal with 47 seconds to play broke a 2-2 tie, and
Chico Resch's heart, as the Isles defeated their former
goaltender and the Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at the Coliseum to
establish an NHL record with a fifteenth straight win.
(I hope that you saw the highlight package we aired on Monday's
telecast)

The win broke a record established by the Boston Bruins in the
1929-30 season.

The NHL record winning streak is now 17 games, held by the
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins' streak, however,
included two overtime wins, leaving the Islanders as the only
NHL team to ever be better than their opponents after 60 minutes
in fifteen straight games.

Pittsburgh, btw, broke the Islanders streak, 4-3 at the Igloo
the following night. The Islanders would respond by breaking
the Penguins hearts, and extending the dynasty, with the
miraculous comeback in game 5 of the Patrick Division
Semi-Finals.

Memories, anyone?

Begeron

Marc Andre Bergeron should be a big help to the Islanders' power
play.

Entering play Sunday, only 10 defensemen in the NHL have more pp
goals --Bergeron has six.

He had eight power play points in an eleven game span earlier
this season. The Isles, as a team, have only eight pp goals in
the last sixteen games.

Bergeron also has wheels and a great shot. He won the Oilers'
skill competition this year for both the fastest skater and for
the hardest shot.

I guess we'll learn soon why the Oilers were willing to give him
up....

Elias note on Sutter and Sedin brothers

<<Daniel (3-2--5) and Henrik (0-4--4) Sedin tallied the most
points in one game by a pair of brothers (Tuesday night) since
Jan. 28, 1986, when Duane (1-4--5) and Brent (2-2--4) Sutter
combined for nine points in the New York Islanders' 9-2 win over
the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum. The single-game high
for a brother duo is 16 points, set by the Quebec Nordiques'
Peter (4-4--8) and Anton (3-5--8) Stastny in an 11-7 victory at
Washington on Feb. 22, 1981.
>>

While I wasn't at the game, I remember the date of the Isles'
beating of the Leafs that night for a different reason -- it was
the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,921 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.

You can find him in the &quot;Best Seat in the House&quot;, about six feet to Howie and Billy&#39;s left, at most Islander home games.

For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org

Stat Trick

1. Rick DiPietro recorded his fifth shutout of the season (two
shy of Chico's club record, and tying his career high) and
eleventh of his career. He the first Islander to shutout the
Flyers since 2-12-02 (Snow 1-0 in OT on a Peca SHG) and the
first to do it at the Coliseum since 2-25-94 (Hextall 2-0).

Rick will carry a scoreless streak of 122:08 into Thursday's
game vs. New Jersey. It's the third longest streak of his
career:

Longest Shutout Streaks (DiPietro)
156:30 12/22-12/27/06
145:40 3/19- 3/27/04
122:08 CURRENT

[The club record of 178:29, set by Chico Resch, is within reach
on Thursday, as well.]

DiPietro is the second Islander goalie to record at least five
shutouts in two different seasons -- Tommy Salo was the first.

2. The Isles are 5-0-3 in their last eight -- it's their
longest point streak since opening the Laviolette era 9-0-1-1.

3. During this 5-0-3 streak, the Isles have gained only two
points on their quest for the 8th seed. They were 21-21-4 when
the streak started and had 46 points, four behind Tampa and the
Rangers, who shared seventh and eight place. The Isles are now
26-21-7 (59 points) and are two points behind eighth place
Carolina.

Elias note on Detroit comeback

While listening to tonight's game in Atlanta, I came across this
gem:

<<FROM THE STAT WIZARDS AT ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU
The Islanders led the Red Wings 3-0 in the third period but
Detroit rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory at Nassau Coliseum.
It was only the fifth time in Islanders history that they failed
to win a home game in which they led by three-or-more goals in
the third period. The other instances were a 6-6 tie against the
North Stars in November 1980, a 7-6 loss to the Penguins in
October 1991, a 5-5 tie versus Ottawa in October 1993 and a 3-3
tie with the Bruins in December 1995.>>

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of FSN statistician Eric Hornick.

Eric, who has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, celebrated his 25th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2007. Often referred to on-air as an actuary, he is one of 2,921 Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society and is the President-Elect of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater NY.

You can find him in the &quot;Best Seat in the House&quot;, about six feet to Howie and Billy&#39;s left, at most Islander home games.

For more on the actuarial profession, visit www.beanactuary.org